” The UK has found another way to snoop into its citizens’ affairs. Internet and phone companies are set to install so-called ‘black boxes’, which will monitor e-mails, social networking activity and calls, and store data for a year. The authorities insist that only limited details will be kept, but activists are raising privacy concerns. “

” Internet privacy issues are again in the spotlight as a controversial bill is debated in London’s Parliament. Its adoption will allow the UK government to spy on what Brits write and post online.

While authorities say the Communications Data Bill creates a so-called ‘intelligence picture’, critics and lawmakers fear the bill will build a totalitarian online regime in the UK. If adopted, the bill will grant British intelligence full access to UK citizens’ web communications – secret services will be able to monitor who is talking to whom, when, and where in the country.

The UK Home Office says ‘communications data’ will only gather information about the sender and recipient of a piece of communication such as an email or instant message, but not the content of the communication.The architects of the legislation claim the idea is to protect the public against crimes like terrorism and child abuse.

‘Black boxes’ will be installed by internet services providers to filter & decode encrypted materials – including social media and email messages, something which critics say will have an impact on personal privacy.

“As written, it gives the Secretary of State far too broad a power. It allows data collection exercises that are perfectly reasonable – but would also allow pervasive black boxes that would monitor every online information flow; an idea which is clearly unacceptable,” Julian Huppert, the Liberal Democrat MP has told the Financial Times.

Internet freedom activists fear this latest infringement on personal liberties will not provide more security.

Web advocate, Aaron Swartz warned RT “either a rogue guy, ISP employees, rogue government officials or hackers [would] just break into the ISP and steal all this personal information.”

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) already grants UK law enforcement the ability to monitor ISP and website phone and email records, but the new document would ensure that all providers keep tabs on their users.

Swartz has told RT the new proposal will be “almost like opening up every letter sent through the post office so the government can make a copy – ‘just in case’.”

UK taxpayers will pick up the estimated £1.8bn cost of the new programme over the next 10 years.

The UK government is creating a massive risk for every citizen and business in the country with such a move, believes Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group.

“If you collect all of this information in one place and then create a sort of secret somewhat protected door for law enforcement to go and view the data and to make queries, then you set that door up to be broken into for absolutely anybody on the Internet,” he told RT. “And that means that there are going to be a lot of people from governments through to criminal gangs who would start thinking ‘this could be really, really useful to us, why don’t we have a go at it.’” “

A promo for Critical Mass Radio. CMR is a brand new internet radio station based in the North West of England. A station that is a platform for Awakened people who have seen through the lies and manipulations of the New World Order. Now it’s Our Turn!!!

THE OLYMPICS WILL BENEFIT LOCAL BUSINESS.When the Athlete’s Village is turned into homes it will become part of the Stratford City development, now wholly owned by Westfield (after they bought out the other shareholders). Residents can look forward to having their environment controlled at the whim of a corporation whose reason for being is to sell stuff. Local business doesn’t really stand a chance in the long run.

THE OLYMPICS WILL CREATE MORE HOUSING. Yes, if you can afford them! The rest of the site is being given over to homes is being developed by the Mayoral Development Company, Olympic Park Legacy Company. They promise 11,000 new homes, and 35% of them will be affordable. Only 675 of them will be social housing though, so if you’re on the list in Newham get ready to wait. The average wait is around 10 years. Previous Olympic cities, like Barcelona, Sydney and Seoul, have seen huge rises in property prices, forcing local families out of their neighbourhoods. This is already happening in Londonand thanks to confidentially agreements with the London Organising Committee of the Olympics and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) you won’t hear about it in the media.

THE OLYMPICS WILL CREATE MORE PUBLIC TRANSPORT. Well, not quite. Huge swathes of London roads will become dedicated ‘VIP lanes’ during the Games. Thousands will struggle to get to work for the whole 10 weeks. There has been little word on how much the public will have to be in fare increases in future years. The DLR extension is finished but the new (old) platforms at Stratford International have been rebuilt out of wood. The cable car (officially the Emirates Air Line) that goes from not-quite-the-o2 to not-quite-the-ExCeL centre might be finished by the time the games happen. Nobody wants to say if it’ll be ready or not. But at least it’s only costing the taxpayer £24million in exchange for Emirates to get their logo on tube maps for the next decade

THE OLYMPICS WILL MAKE THE CITY A SAFER PLACE TO BE. Well, yes, they are sending in the army and putting missiles on tops of peoples homes, then forgetting to guard them. You’ll be monitored the whole time by hundreds of security personnel, CTV and flying drones developed for use in Afghanistan. Stratford is set to be the guinea pig for yet more oppressive surveillance tactics. Studies show that CCTV does little to reduce crime, but a lot to create a climate of fear. The police also have a new temporary police station built on Wanstead Flats. Although planning permission was only sought for a temporary structure, its been constructed as a permanent building – stealing a large chunk of public green space enjoyed by local residents for centuries.

THE OLYMPICS WILL BE THE GREENEST GAMES EVER. Not quite. The Olympic Park is built on a former landfill site. Excavations have disturbed buried toxic chemicals, spreading them into the land. Radioactive thorium from an old watch factory has also seeped into the water table. DOW Chemical, the company that bought Union Carbide (responsible for the as yet to be cleaned up Bhopal disaster) are major sponsors. Plus BP is the Olympics official sustainability partner. Their involvement in the Tar Sands is a glowing indicator of their lack of commitment to ecological sustainability and social justice.

THE OLYMPICS IS AN INVESTMENT IN LONDON’S FUTURE. We’ll it is quite an investment. £9.3bn, according to the Olympics Quarterly Economic Report in May 2011. The original estimate in 2005? £2.4bn according to the Labour government. The most recent figure doesn’t include costs associated with the acquisition of land, remediation, government departments and quango spending. 10% of the cost for the Olympics will come from Londoner’s taxes and 67% from national taxes.

THE OLYMPICS WILL PROMOTE DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH. We’ll it will certainly be promoting many things through its corporate sponsorship deals. LOCOG are interested in protecting their benevolent sponsors but seem to have little interest in anyone else’s freedom of speech or expression, even handing out ASBO’s to anyone opposing the games. Their crack team of branding Police will be enforcing laws expecially drawn up for the olympics which are far more stringent than any other copywrite law. With everything from an “Official chocolate bar of the Olympic Games” through to banning anyone using the words “olympics’, “2012”, “Summer Games” “Twenty Twelve” and many more, the games is more than anything an experiment in extending corporate control of social life.

THE OLYMPICS WILL INSPIRE A NEW GENERATION. It will but the International Olympics Committee isn’t only interested in inspiring future athletes. It’s going for the gold and hoping to inspire as many people as possible to buy more stuff. It’s not quite clear what kind of future taxpayers are being asked to invest in. It seems to be one that favours a particular London vista – Pall Mall, oppression, privatization and the erosion of public space.

We’re not opposed to the sports events, and we’re all in favour of having a big party – but only if everyone’s invited.